Surgical outcomes of patients who underwent retrograde intrarenal surgery using a ureteral access sheath to manage kidney stones sized 1–2 cm compared between patients who did and did not undergo preoperative ureteral stenting

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the surgical outcomes of patients who underwent retrograde intrarenal surgery (RIRS) using a ureteral access sheath (UAS) to manage kidney stones sized 1–2 cm compared between patients who did and did not undergo preoperative ureteral prestenting. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This retrospective cohort study included 166 patients (aged ≥18 years) who underwent RIRS at Siriraj Hospital (Bangkok, Thailand) during February 2015–February 2020. All patients had renal calculi (stone size: 1–2 cm) located within the pelvicalyceal system. 80 and 86 patients were allocated to the prestent and non-prestent groups, respectively. Patient baseline characteristics, renal stone details, operative equipment, stone-free rate (SFR) at 2 weeks and 6 months, and perioperative complications were compared between groups. RESULTS: All patient baseline characteristics were similar between groups. At 2 weeks after surgery, the overall SFR was 65.1%, and the SFRs in the prestent and non-prestent groups were 73.4% and 59.5%, respectively (p = 0.09). At 6 months after surgery, the overall SFR was 80.1%, and the SFRs in the prestent and non-prestent groups were 90.7% and 79.3%, respectively (p = 0.08). The incidence of perioperative complications was not significantly different between groups. CONCLUSIONS: There was no significant difference in the SFR between the presenting and non-prestenting groups at both the 2-week and 6-month postoperative time points. There was also no significant difference in intraoperative and postoperative complications between groups. The SFR was higher at 6 months than at 2 weeks in both groups with no additional procedure.